1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wire and cable coatings, particularly protective jackets. In one aspect the invention relates to wire and cable coatings with a matte finish while in another aspect, the invention relates to a die assembly with a cooled die land for imparting a matte finish to a polymeric wire and cable coating. In still another aspect the invention relates to a process of imparting a matte finish to a wire and cable coating without the use of inorganic additives or a change in coating formulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
For some electronic wires, such as power cords, USB cables, HDMI cables, mouse cables and the like, some manufacturers have cosmetic requirements that require these wires and cables to match their electronic products. Some of these manufacturers expect these wires and cables to have a matte surface. Due to the inherent properties of some of the materials used in the manufacture of these coatings, e.g., polyvinylchloride (PVC), thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), etc., many of these coatings inherently, without modification of one kind or another, have a glossy surface.
The addition of organic or inorganic additives to the coating formulation, e.g., aluminum trihydrate with a particle size in excess of 5 microns, can reduce the gloss of the wire and cable coating, but this adds expense, time and complexity to the coating manufacturing process. Moreover, the additions of such materials can have an adverse impact on one or more of the other properties of the coating, e.g., flexibility, tensile measures and the like.